Michigan

Michigan State All-American cornerback and team captain Darqueze Dennard was selected as the Spartans' most valuable player by his teammates, receiving the award from Coach Mark Dantonio at Sunday's team banquet at the Kellogg Center in East Lansing.
(Photo courtesy of Matthew Mitchell and MSU athletics)

EAST LANSING — Another chapter has been added to the legacy of Michigan State cornerback Darqueze Dennard, the Spartans' first-ever Jim Thorpe Award winner and unanimous All-American defensive back.

Michigan State defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi revealed at Sunday's team banquet that Dennard suffered a severely sprained ankle two days before the Spartans' 24-20 victory against Stanford in the 100th Rose Bowl Classic on Jan. 1.

"He goes full-go every single day in practice, twists his left ankle two days before the Rose Bowl,'' Narduzzi said. "We kept that quiet, and you wouldn't even know it.''

Narduzzi and Michigan State did their part to make sure no one knew about the injury, to the extent of having a different player wear Dennard's No. 31 jersey the final day of practice leading up to the game.

Dennard said he suffered the injury in the one-on-one portion of practice, stepping on a teammates' foot after breaking up a pass.

"I knew it was bad, but I didn't know how bad,'' Dennard told MLive.com. "At first, I was just going to tighten my shoelaces and continue to play on it. But when I tried to stand up, I couldn't, and I fell.''

Dennard said the treatment on his ankle started almost immediately.

"I was going to play — there wasn't any doubt about that,'' he said.

The ankle was iced immediately, there were trips to the cold tub and cold wrap pressure was applied both nights leading up to the game.

"They were doing everything, they used a laser, I don't even know what that did,'' Dennard said with a laugh.

By kickoff time, Dennard said he felt fine.

"I think the adrenaline kind of kicked in,'' Dennard said. "But I couldn't walk that first day, that's the crazy thing about it. Two days before I couldn't walk.

"But it was a once in lifetime opportunity, so I was going to play, regardless. We got a win, and that's all that mattered.''

Dennard was matched up with Stanford consensus All-American receiver Ty Montgomery, and he held the Cardinal ace to three catches to 21 yards.

Most recently, Dennard has been ranked by Mel Kiper Jr. as the No. 1 cornerback in the upcoming NFL draft (May 8-10).

But rather than attend the draft, Dennard is choosing to spend time with his friends and family in the central Georgia community of Dry Branch, located outside of Macon in Twiggs County (population 9,023).

On the Wednesday before the draft, he's holding a cookout for his community.

"It's at my grandma and grandpa's everyone knows where they stay,'' Dennard.

The draft party, however, will be private.

""I'll graduate Friday night, and then Saturday and Sunday I'll go back home to Georgia and wait for the draft,'' Dennard said. "I wanted my grandparents to be there, they pretty much raised with me with the help of my mom. My grandparents don't fly, so there's no reason to go up there (to New York).

"I want the people who have been there with me from the get-go, who taught me to become a man, to be there,'' he said. "The Wednesday before we're having a barbecue, everyone in the whole town is coming out. All the support they showed me and my family, the cookout is my way of giving back to them.''